Kent Polkinghorne

Test and Instrumentation Engineer

   Kent.Polkinghorne@colorado.edu

I support the technical needs of a variety of projects in the areas of instrumentation, control, tuning, and training.  I bring a considerable amount of institutional knowledge surrounding all servo-hydraulic test systems and geotechnical centrifuges currently being used in the lab, as well as most existing instrumentation and control systems.  I help design control, measurement, data capture, and mechanical aspects of experiments, as well as execute and train on executing the testing.  Having worked with various projects in the Structures, Materials, and Geotechnical labs (now consolidated under CIEST) over a span of almost twenty years, I have been privileged to contribute to various aspects of research and instruction.  Some projects have included Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser structural prototype, fracture energy testing of concrete from the containment buildings of a nuclear power plant, simulating ocean-floor caisson interaction, testing various methods to improve the earthquake survivability of century-old San Francisco buildings, and accelerating mechanical aging of a military airplane wing.  Lately I have been working on the control and success of a shaking table for the 400 G-ton centrifuge that one day will be able to apply 37 tons of lateral force to specimens for earthquake research.  Currently I work in the lab part time, as well as manage I/T at a circuit board manufacturer.